Man Uses CPR to Save Drowning Cousin, 2

A Santa Ana toddler who stopped breathing in a backyard pool Sunday was brought back to life by his adult cousin.

Chuong Sweeney, 36, said he rescued his 2-year-old cousin by copying what he remembered paramedics doing during a choking emergency at the restaurant where he worked as a college student.

Sweeney acted after his cousin’s life jacket apparently slipped off while he played in the pool in the 800 block of South Maxine Street with three older brothers about 3:45 p.m. Their father had stepped inside a moment before, Sweeney said. After noticing that the child had gone under, the oldest of the brothers, a 13-year-old, dived down, brought him to the ledge and tried to revive him by shaking him.

Sweeney ran out of the house and immediately rolled the boy onto his side and pushed his chest.

“There was no pulse, and he was turning blue,” he said. After water came out of his mouth, Sweeney turned the boy on his back, covered his nose and began CPR.

“After 30 seconds, he coughed a faint cough,” Sweeney said. “Then he gargled a little. Some color came back to his mouth. By then we had gotten ahold of 911.”

The boy was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, said Capt. Randy Black of the city Fire Department. Hospital officials declined to comment on his condition.

In 1999, California records show, 107 children under age 14 drowned.